It's wise to use Yao that way, if Yao has enough time to rest,he will be a monster, that's the reason Yao became clutch tonight.
Wafer is playing better than TMac right now. He is athletic and shoots very well. That old T-Mac was much better around the basket, and was a much better passer. But currently for whatever reasons, he is just not himself.
Thank you Rockets! Thank you Rockets! Thank you for beating the Celtics - Lakers fan The best part of it...former Laker Von Wafer with the cold blooded dagger. Good to see him do well in Houston!
Holy crap! We won!!! This was an awesome win. The defense finally decided to show up. I really thought this was gonna be a 100+ point game, but the Rockets decided to clamp down on defense and show the Celtics that things weren't going to be as easy as it seemed. I think Ron had a good part in this. Altough he fouled out, those faults on Pierce were hard, and they definetely sent a statement. Von freaking Wafer - 'nuff sad. I know Yao's hurting. Poor guy, he was getting mauled all night, yet still managed to get 26 points. The future definetely looks bright. T-Mac who?
I love the way Ron Artest plays dirty and tough. It gets a lot of primadonna players like Ray Allen off their game. The take down of Ray Allen by Artest was excellent. We need more of that... We need Ron and Battier in to get in there and annoy the hell out of offensive players.
Once I knew Wafer was going to shoot from the corner I knew it was in all the way, thats his spot , in front of the opposing teams bench. Big ups to Ron and Hayes for their D
The 3 things that stood out most during this game: 1. Just how much better the offense looks with the second unit on the floor. 2. Hayes' defense on Garnett in the 2nd quarter set the tone for the rest of the game. 3. Brooks closing the game over Rafer. If it was the usual lineup, you likely would have seen them turn the ball over trying to force it into Yao against the fronting defense or an errant floater from Rafer.
Artest was playing a very physical defense tonight. He got some calls for it and he got some calls for being Artest.
My observation: we win because: 1. T-mac didn't play, at this time, he is a lesser player than Wafer. 2. Rafer didn't play in crucial time, his boneheaded play in the third quarter caused 2 turnovers and 2 fouls on Ron. 3. The team commited going to Yao through out the 4 quarters, putting pressure on Celtics. Another observation I have from tonight's game is that: Adelman as offense genius is way overrated, in the beginning of the fourth quarter, when Yao was out, our offense was stagnate, he called time out, after the time out, we had 2 straight play for Landry go one on one, and resulted 2 turnovers and 5 points deficit. And close to the end of the Fourth quarter, when we lead by 2, he called the time out, resulted Brooks dribbling penetration, and resulted another turnover. The play Brooks dished out to Wafer was the winning play to me, but I seriously doubt that Adelman had anything to do with it.
That foul was great. No layups. When Ron Artest is being the aggressor, people get intimidated and out of their game. I like how he rolled on top of KG too. He does all these subtle things to piss off the opponents. Reminds me of Dennis Rodman.
I would say "This team is better without an injured MaGrady" is worth considering by Rox management and coaching stff. TMac should rest until fully recovered both physically/mentally to avoid weakening the team's defense: 5 on 5 instead of 4 on 5. Tonight's game allowing Celtics only 11 points in the last quarter is the main reason for the win. Von Wafer should replace TMac as SG during the latter's recuperation; and when TMac returns, Von be the 2nd SG.
